Challenge

Rugged Location for a Major Environmental Initiative

At Britco, we’re always up for a challenge – and the Cape Scott Wind Farm was no exception. Located about 30 km west of Port Hardy on Vancouver Island, this was the first wind energy project to be approved by the Environmental Assessment Office of British Columbia.
With the site’s extremely remote location (it’s a 17-hour round trip from Nanaimo), one of the biggest hurdles we faced was the lack of access. Nearly 33 km of access roads had to be built as part of the project and, as these roads were very rudimentary, they were extremely rough and took a toll on equipment and resources. On one trip alone, the team lost six tires.

Solution

Complex Project Supported by Modular Options

There were several contracted companies involved in the construction of this project and Britco was proud to partner with them. We supplied the office and container storage units for Black & McDonald on one part of the site and office space for Vestas at the project staging site. In addition, when one of the contractors had questions regarding regional suppliers and support services, our Britco team in the Nanaimo office was able to provide assistance and information.
The completed project spans over 350 ha (864 acres) outside of Cape Scott National Park and uses 55 Vestas V100 1.8MW turbines. It’s expected that the wind farm will generate 290GWh of clean energy annually. This can power 30,000 homes for local Vancouver Island residents.